Within the Nexus
by Cedechan
Summary: After the Eve Wars, Zechs tried to live a new life of peace, he really did...but he failed. Trying to heal his heart, Zechs goes back to what he knows best, fighting and violence, but for the "good guys" this time. Zechs and his partners from the agency called Nexus will do anything to make sure they come out on top to maintain the hard earned peace between Earth and the Colonies.
1. Fractured

**Within the Nexus**

 **October 23, AC 197**

A low buzz filled the steel rectangular room, breaking the silence and bringing Zechs Merquise out of his daydream.

"Sir," The voice of the young co-pilot crackled over the intercom, "We'll be in Earth's orbit in a few hours."

Zechs rubbed at his dry eyes as he looked up from the screen of his laptop, towards the round shuttle window of his room. He saw nothing but the solid black curtain of space, and the light, translucent reflection of his own pale face. Their current trajectory was at the perfect angle to cast the red dot of his former home, Mars, within his line of sight and he pursed his lips at the pang of nostalgia. Getting up from the built-in desk, he walked over and hit the blue button on the intercom that was next to the door of his quarters.

"Thank you, I'll head up." he replied, and slipped his thumb off of the button. He turned back to the desk and stretched, raised his arms up over his head and arched his back. He was so tall in comparison to the small room that his elbows almost touched the ceiling and he let out a large yawn.

A once ten-week journey from Mars was now only two, but it was still too much time to be alone with his thoughts. Piloting the craft in which he now travelled did prove to be a good distraction; however, he didn't pilot it 24-7, so when he wasn't piloting, he was hunched over his computer.

He looked into the small mirror that was mounted on the wall, stared into his tired ice blue eyes and raked his hand through his long blond hair. He worked a small knot loose with his fingers, sighed and turned to his bed.

Rolling his shoulders to work the stiffness out of them, he grabbed his discarded white T-shirt from his thin bunk and draped it over his long, lanky torso. Although it was mandated that all crew members do a series of workouts in the morning to keep their muscles from atrophying in space, Zechs hadn't bothered since the accident. He slept in most days anyway and had no appetite, so as a result he'd lost a fair amount of weight in the last three weeks. His pants were all loose and his shirts hung on him.

There were 10 crew members on the shuttle to Earth. He and the co-pilot, three engineers, two botanists, two biologists, and their medic, Myrna. During the two week trip to Earth, Myrna had constantly harassed him to eat more, but he just wasn't hungry. She'd grab his face, turn it left and right, then comment on how emaciated he looked. He'd just brush her off and lie that he'd make sure to eat something at the next meal. He usually tried, but it never resulted in more than a few bites of whatever the rehydrated food of choice was that day.

With a sigh, he hit the button next to the steel door and it slid open with quiet hiss. The shuttle was only 200 feet long, so he walked down the central hallway and was in the cockpit a moment later.

The dark haired pilot looked up when he entered and saluted him from his seat.

"I've told you not to do that, Arlo." Zechs mumbled and the young man lowered his hand with an unperturbed smile and turned back towards the navigation controls. He was actually only a year and a half younger than Zechs, but Zechs felt much older than his 21 years. He slumped down into the second pilot's seat and stared over the navigation panel, out the window to the little blue planet in front of them.

He couldn't believe that he was actually returning.

Suddenly he felt a weight land on his shoulders and the depression he'd been battling the last three weeks descended on him like a thick fog. His mind wandered, for the thousandth time, to the precious cargo they had in the lower bay. He let out a strangled breath as an invisible hand thrust into his chest and squeezed his heart.

He deflated in the seat and raised a hand to cover his eyes. Arlo looked over at him concerned.

"Sir?"

"Hn? Oh, I'm fine." he lied, looking away and abruptly getting up. "Are you alright to keep going?" he asked and Arlo nodded.

"Yes'sir. Maybe you should go see Myrna? You're awful pale." Arlo observed, but Zechs shook his head lightly. He turned and left the cockpit, and decided to go down to the cargo bay. Carefully avoiding the shuttle's clinic, he made his way to the door that lead down to the cargo bay, and looked behind him quickly before opening it and slipping inside.

A motion detector turned the lights on as he entered, and a soft white light illuminated the small bay as he came down the ramp. He walked across the room, passed the blocks of supplies and stopped at the single cryogenic sleeping pod, where Lucrezia's beautiful face shown through the small window.

The pod was the closest thing that they had to a coffin on Station NW2, where he and Lucrezia had lived together.

"Hi sweetheart," he whispered.

Putting a shaky hand on the window, he lowered his head as his throat constricted and he wrestled for control.

He and Lucrezia had moved to Mars soon after the Mariemaia Uprising, hoping to make a new lives for themselves. A few days into the new year, they had been contacted by one of the heads of the Terraforming Project, Kalkin Muzall, wondering if they would be interested in the project. They had accepted right away and took the first shuttle headed out to Mars.

He would never forget the beaming smile that Lucrezia had on her face when they first set foot on the Martian planet. The sun highlighted the deep violet of her hair through the glass of her helmet, bringing out a deeper array of colors and her eyes twinkled like amethysts… God, she was so radiant. She had grabbed his hand and released a sigh of content.

"Oh Zechs." she murmured looking up at him. "I'm so happy." she smiled at him and he smiled back.

"I am too…" he replied and paused for a moment as he stared down at her, "I love you so much, Lucrezia." he blurted suddenly and she blinked in surprise. It was the first time he had said those words aloud to her, although they both knew. Lucrezia's smile faltered a moment then returned bigger than before and her eyes glistened. Suddenly she jumped on him, catching him off guard and he lost his balance as she wrapping her arms around his neck. They fell together, laughing as their helmets clunked together and they landed in a cloud of red dust.

"I love you too Zechs…" she whispered when the laughter subsided. "I've always loved you."

They had both been assigned as Captains for half of the Northwest sphere, in charge of overseeing the construction of 30 of the total 480 factories that would be releasing the greenhouse gases needed to create ozone on the red planet. It was 20 year plan: 5 years to complete construction and 15 years for the factories to emit enough greenhouses gases before the surface could be even remotely survivable. They were excited for their new life and had planned to be there for the long haul.

Mars had been mapped out simply: north sphere, northwest sphere, northeast sphere, west sphere, east sphere, southeast sphere, southwest sphere, and south sphere. Each sphere had two identical anchored habitats on each end, and each housed 90 people. They lived in Station NW2.

Their accommodations had been a cozy 200 square feet that included a small kitchenette, bathroom and narrow closet, and they loved every square inch of their tiny quarters. They were used to small spaces after their time at the academy, so they didn't care how much room they had, as long as they were together. Although he was in a position of power, Zechs felt completely uninhibited and free for the first time in his life. No battles to fight, no wars to prepare for...just his work and being with the love of his life.

After a long day of construction, many of the Station's crew members would go to it's only drinkery to relax. Sometimes Lucrezia and Zechs had joined them, but most of the time they would retreat to their room and just enjoy each other's company.

A searing pain cut through Zechs' chest as he remembered how happy they'd been. The accident was three weeks ago, but her death still felt fresh as if it had been yesterday.

They had been together at Site 4, which was almost complete and they were going over the final phases of the build. A call came over their coms saying that there had been an incident at Site 7, roughly 5 miles away, and Lucrezia had offered to take a Lite Runner and go check it out. They knew that there was a storm warning for the the night, but it was only a 30 minute drive and there was plenty of time before sundown. She was going to check-in when she got there to report what the damage was at Site 7, then she'd be right back. Zechs was eager to put the final touches on Site 4, so he gave her a kiss and she left

But the storm hit early. Zechs hadn't even noticed the sound of the rushing wind while he talked with the electrician to make sure that the water recycling system was running properly. It wasn't until there was an alarmingly loud 'thunk!' and the sound of splintering glass that he looked up. Someone called him over to one of the few windows that the factory had and that was when he saw the large starburst crack that decorated it. The rock that had flown into it had been very large.

The workers were already putting tape across the window then putting a plastic covering over it, in case it did decide to give. Luckily they glass was a thick, very strong polyfiber glass that wouldn't break easily, otherwise they would all have been dead already.

Zechs' thoughts strayed from the window quickly, however, when he saw the powerful red storm beyond the glass. It had come hours earlier than expected. He hadn't even realized that he had pulled his radio off of his belt and was screaming "Luci?! Luci!" into it, until the loud screech and and white noise started to blare from it.

"I have to go find her!" he yelled at the workers and ran down to the Runner hangar before anyone could respond. Red lights were flashing and an alarm was sounding when he burst into the hanger. Ignoring them all, he hastily ran past the Lite Runners to a Runner XL, climbing over the large all-terrain wheels and ducking under the silver roll cage, and carefully sealed the door. The electric Runner hummed happily when he hit ignition, but the hanger door wouldn't respond when he put in the command.

A red warning appeared on the screen.

 *****Warning*****

 **Hangar doors on lockdown until Category 8 storm passes.**

"NO!" he bellowed, slamming his fist on the display. He tried the door again and the warning continued to flash. "Goddammit!" He dialed Kalkin's number. The stout man's face appeared a moment later on the screen, he looked just as harried as Zechs felt. The picture was rough and fuzzy from the bad signal and the image wavered.

"Kalkin! I need you to override the doors here at site 4!" Zechs yelled, "I need to get out! Lucrezia is out in the storm!"

"What the fuck is she doing out there?!" Kalkin yelled back at him. It seemed that the storm was raging on his side of the sphere too and it was hard to hear over the howling wind.

"She was heading to site 7! Let me out! I need to find her!" His voice cracked with urgency.

"I can't Zechs! The lockdown is automatic when a storm is over category 5. Even I can't override it!"

"You have to! There has to be a way!" His deep voice begged.

"I can't!" Kalkin said with a shake of his head and at that moment the screen blinked and Kalkin's face disappeared.

"No!" He yelled at the screen and hit it again.

Zechs tried finding the control box so that he could force the doors to open, to no avail. Then he headed to the airlock, dressed in a surface suit, prepared to walk into the billowing red storm to find her, but the doors wouldn't open either. Some of the other workers tried to help him, they were worried about Lucrezia too, but no one could find a way out, they were locked in.

It was 12 hours before the storm cleared up.

The red sand had built up around the factory and when they finally opened the hangar door, it came spilling inside. Already dressed in a surface suit, Zechs started to climb the tall dune of red sand before the crew could clear it. When he got to the top he could see a Runner coming towards them in the distance and his heart leapt.

"Lucrezia!" He called out at the top of his lungs, stumbling over and down the dune, then ran towards the oncoming Runner. He couldn't see who the driver was due to the reflective windshield, but a part of him believed it could have been her.

He wanted so badly for it to be her.

The Runner stopped when it was 50 yards from Zechs and the door creaked opened, releasing a shower of red dust. Breathless, Zechs stopped and waited, then fell to his knees when the person who stepped out of it wasn't her.

Kalkin walked over to Zechs slowly, and the expression on his face through his helmet stopped Zechs' heart.

"No….no!" he cried out, grasping at his helmet. Karin kneeled down in front of Zechs and put his hands on his friend's shoulders.

"I'm so sorry…"

They had found her already, down at the bottom of a deep ravine. The Lite Runner she had been driving, had no roll cage, and it was crinkled like an aluminum can. From what they could surmise, the storm had thrown her off course and somehow she slipped into the ravine. The Runner flipped and rolled; puncturing the armour on the sharp Martian rocks. It was common practice to remove their helmets inside the Runner because of the low ceilings, and that was exactly what she had done. She suffocated when all the air was sucked out of the cabin.

He spent the next few days numb and in shock, not getting up to eat and unable to sleep. He felt broken, like someone had taken the best part of him, his soul, and destroyed it. On the fifth day, Kalkin came into his quarters and sat next to him on the bed.

"I've spoken to your sister," Kalkin said, looking sadly at Zechs "and we have a shuttle ready to take you and Lucrezia back to Earth."

And now, he stared into her peaceful face through the thick glass of the cryo-pod, willing her eyes to open, until his vision obscured with tears.

His breath suddenly hitched as he bit into his quivering lip, wiping away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand, then slammed his fist angrily against the pod. ' _It should have been me,'_ he told himself for the thousandth time, ' _I should have gone instead. Why did I let her go?! Why?! Why was I so stupid?'_

Alone...in the belly of shuttle...he cried for Lucrezia...mourning for the life that they had together, for her beautiful eyes that he'd never see again, for her soft lips that he'd never kiss again, and for the children that they talked about, who would never be.

9 months. He only got have 9 months with her. How was that fair?!

* * *

End of Chapter 1! Hope you enjoyed it! Much more to come. If you think you may have read this before, its possible! I've posted it before, then took it down so I could make it better. I'm thinking it is time to put it back on Fanfiction, so I hope you have enjoyed it.

Thank you!

Cedechan


	2. A New Path

Chapter 2

Once they landed on Earth, the next few days raced by for Zechs, like images in a tornado. Landing back on Earth, seeing Relena there on the tarmac with her silly pink limousine, the traditional funeral in the Sanq kingdom at his family plot, seeing a lot of old companions who came to pay their condolences, flowers, suits, more limos, green lawns, and a lot of bad food. When everything finally slowed down, Zechs found himself sitting alone on a bed in his sister's guest room, utterly exhausted.

' _Now what?'_ he asked himself, as his eyes scanned the elaborately decorated room. There was the tray with his untouched dinner, his sad little duffle bag, the suit from the funeral that was carelessly discarded on the floor. When he finally he looked at himself in the large gold adorned mirror that backed the oak dresser he noticed the deep shadows under his eyes and his skin was pale.

He felt so lost. Where would he go? What would he do? _Who_ would he be? She had always been his constant, even when they were separated.

Who was he without Lucrezia Noin?

His eyes unfocused as a memory floated to him…

They sat in the mess hall wearing their standard NW2 gray jumpsuits, eating breakfast. He had been contemplating another name change to distance himself from the Lightning Count and all the staring and gawking that came with it. Lucrezia has given him a stern, but mocking frown as she stabbed a chunk of powdered egg with her fork.

"I will not let you change your name again," she said, pointing her fork at him. "I happen to like the name Zechs Merquise, and I'm very fond of the man who is attached to it." She smiled and popped the yellow egg substitute into her mouth.

He smiled, reached out, and swept up her right hand.

"Well, when you put it that way," He lightly kissed her knuckles, " Zechs Merquise at your service, mademoiselle,"

Blinking, he refocused on his image in the mirror. ' _Okay, no name change.'_ he thought, but he had to **do** something, he felt like he was suffocating. He pushed his long blond hair out of his face for the hundredth time that morning and stopped suddenly, a handful of his yellow mane still clutched between his fingers. On an impulse, Zechs stood up, walked over to the dinner tray and grabbed the serrated steak knife. Walking back to the mirror, he didn't stop to think as he gathered his hair into a ponytail and began to saw through it.

A shower of long blond locks fell at his feet, and his hair fell in jagged layers around his face. Immediately, Zechs could feel the shroud slip off and he could breathe easier as he lowered his head and closed his eyes. After a moment, he lifted his head and tilted it from side to side, looking at his handy work. He hadn't had short hair since he was a boy and it was strange seeing his ears and neck so exposed. It wasn't pretty, but he didn't care. He already felt marginally better.

"Zechs are you- Oh my god! Who are you?!" came a surprised exclamation from behind him. He spun around to see the startled face of his sister. She wore her long, honey brown hair down and her nile blue eyes were wide with shock. He hadn't even heard the door open.

"It's just me." he responded quickly, and she ogled at him momentarily, still recovering from her surprise. A small smile began to tug at Relena's lips.

"What did you do?" She asked, walking into the room and taking in the pool of blonde hair on the floor.

"I uh- needed a change." He said simply as she walked up beside him. The siblings looked at each other through the mirror and Relena reached up and swept a stray lock from his shirt.

"It looks terrible," she said with fake seriousness, and she watched as his hand went up self-consciously to his ragged locks.

"You don't like it?" he asked, realizing he sounded childish only after the words has escaped his lips. Relena smiled, amused.

"Not cut like that, I don't." She grinned, "I do like it short though."

"Well I'm no barber," Zechs commented, holding up the steak knife. Seeing it, Relena burst into laughter and he smiled a little to himself too.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Relena looped her arm through Zechs' and began to lead him out the room.

"Okay big brother, let's get your hair fixed up and then talk about what's next for you." She said as they walked down the hallway.

"What's next for me?" he asked curiously as he peered down at her smiling face.

"Yes. The best way to heal is to stay busy and Lucrezia wouldn't want you to stay in mourning forever." she said, giving his arm a squeeze. "You know I'm right." she added when he looked doubtful.

"Maybe… but I don't know that I'm ready."

"You are."

"How do you know?"

"I just know." she said confidently as they turned down a hallway and headed to the dining area. "And I've already set up an interview for you." Zechs stopped and stared down at her again surprised and smiled at the assured look on her face.

"When did you get so commanding?" he asked, and she grinned.

"About the time I started following in our father's footsteps, I suppose."

He could hardly find a reason to argue with her and sighed.

"Alright, tell me about the interview."

As it turned out, Relena had a very interesting job opportunity for Zechs and he accepted the interview with only a little skepticism. She told him almost nothing, wanting it to be a surprise, but she assured him that it was right up his alley.

Six days later, he and Relena were finishing up breakfast when the doorbell rang. Relena's loyal butler, Pagan, came into the dining room, waited for Relena to finish her sentence to Zechs, then murmured,

"It's here, ma'am," through his thick, white mustache. Zechs reached up and subconsciously rubbed a knuckle under his own, naked nose and wondered how the elderly butler could maintain the white, bushy pushbroom above his lip.

He set down his fork and took a final sip of coffee, before getting up and following Relena and Pagan out the front door.

There was a black town car idling in the long, circular drive and Zechs looked over at Relena and raised an eyebrow.

"Just go," she said with a smile, "And remember, Zechs, you don't have to say yes." she reminded him for the third time that morning and he nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you later." he conceded, and walked to the car. The driver met him and opened the door for him. He ducked inside the car, grabbed the door's handle and pulled it shut, ignoring the grunt of surprise from the driver. He hated being waited on.

They drove thirty minutes, and Zechs was surprised when they arrived at the private entrance of the Sanq Airport. He pulled out his com and typed a message to his sister.

' **They are taking me to the airport. Where is this interview?'**

' **Wait and see ;)'** came her reply message and he rolled his eyes. Although he and Relena had only been reunited for two years, sometimes it felt as if they had never lost that time. Even while he was on Mars, they messaged one another often, and she had been there for him ever since Lucrezia died.

He was escorted to a waiting, unmarked, white private jet on the runway and he was the only passenger. The kind stewardess offered him a drink as he buckled his seatbelt and had it to him once they were in the air.

One short hour later, he disembarked the jet and climbed into the next waiting town car.

Zechs knew exactly what country they had landed in, so he was not at all surprised when the car stopped in front of the Preventers Headquarters in Brussels. He sighed to himself. ' _Why would Relena get me an interview here?'_ he thought with a cringe. He had already worked for them, and he hadn't particularly enjoyed his time under the manic "Director" Lady Une.

As he walked up to the tall, monolith of concrete and glass, he was mentally preparing himself to tell Une, 'No'.

Zechs only had a moment to notice that a shadow appeared on the other side of the glass door before opened it up for him. He stopped in his tracks, momentarily taken aback.

She hadn't changed at all since the last time he saw her on board the Libra. She was wearing a crisp white suit with a cornflower blue scarf wrapped around her delicate neck and her long pale blonde hair swept to-and fro as she walked. Her lavender eyes smiled at him as he approached.

"Dorothy, I wasn't expecting to see you here,"

"Welcome," she said with a shy smile. She ignored his puzzled look as she held the door for him to walk through, and hesitantly he walked through into the large lobby. He waited as the door closed and she caught up with him. "Please follow me, Mr. Merquise." she said formally, and led him down the hallway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, "I thought you were working with the ESUN,"

"I was, but I found a better opportunity. We can catch up later but we are going to be late...please follow me." she said and turned down another hallway.

To his surprise, he was led straight past Une's private elevator to another elevator that he had never seen before. Dorothy stepped in behind him and as the doors closed, and she put her hand on the biometric scanner. It glowed green and he felt the metal box begin to move down. Zechs wasn't sure how far they dropped, but it was 30 seconds before the doors opened again and Dorothy led him out. They stepped out into an unfinished space; cement floors, exposed beams, stacks of equipment and supplies laid about, but there was not a soul in sight.

Their steps echoed as she led him about 100 yards before turning left down a corridor and stopped at an unmarked door. Again, Dorothy opened the door and held it for him, and he stepped forward.

Zechs' eyes widened slightly as he looked around the new room, but managed to keep the rest of his face blank. This room was modern, with sharp grey tile, two white leather and chrome lounge chairs in front of a large a glass top desk with chrome legs. There were no windows, but a large television screen was mounted on one wall and displayed a peaceful meadow scene. Zechs quickly realized, however, that it wasn't a photo, but a video of some sort when the bright green grass rippled with an unseen wind and a daisy came loose and floated away on the breeze.

Behind the desk sat a stern looking man with swept back, coppery red hair streaked with silver and razor sharp cerulean eyes. This man stood and nodded to Dorothy who smiled and left.

"Hello Zechs, I'm Bruce Dubois." He said, walking around the desk and extended a strong hand to Zechs, who took it. They both sat in the two leather chairs that faced the large desk, and Zechs could sense the other's man's eyes assessing him. He straightened in his seat. Fine lines traced Dubois' strong face and Zechs guessed he was probably in his early 50's and he wore a fine grey Italian suit that reeked with power.

"First, I'd like to offer my condolences...I'm very sorry to hear about the passing of Ms. Noin."

"Thank you." Zechs murmured curtly, but didn't break eye contact with the man.

"Do you know why you are here?" Dubois asked, immediately changing gears and getting down to business. He lounged back in his seat and crossed his left ankle over his right knee. At this point, there was knock and Dorothy returned with two glasses of what appeared to be sparking water with a wedge of lime.

"A job interview." Zechs answered. He already beginning to dislike the man sitting next to him, but fought his natural instinct to be combative with other A-type personalities. He accepted the drink from Dorothy, and held it in his hands while Dubois accepted his drink, then Dorothy quietly excused herself with a small smile in Zechs' direction.

"You look unsure," he said with an amused smile over the rim of his glass. He lifted it slightly in Zechs' direction then took a sip. Zechs obligingly took a sip from his and was surprised to find that it was a gin and tonic. And a damned good one too.

"Wouldn't you, if you had no idea what you had just walked into?" he asked and Bruce shrugged.

"I suppose, but I've never gone into anything blindly," he commented and Zechs wasn't sure if it was meant as an insult or just part of the man's cocky demeanor. Zechs took another sip of the drink to keep himself from saying anything. "Your sister thought that you may be a good candidate for the position I'm trying to fill." Bruce continued, "Tell me Zechs, have you ever heard of Nexus?"

Zechs scanned his brain for the names of all the organizations he knew of from the war. Nexus wasn't one of them.

"No, I haven't." he answered and the smile on Bruce's face grew.

"Good, that's very good." he said with a sip, "Let me enlighten you."

Nexus, he explained, was a European organization dedicated to the end of major criminal activity, specifically terrorism. Interpol, the Earth's oldest and most powerful law enforcement agency, had been contracting with Nexus for 'special' services, since A.C. 160. It had some similarities to the Preventers, however Nexus was smaller and didn't bother with justice, they were more direct and just took care of the "problem". Interpol had been 349 years old when it finally changed hands and became the Preventers in AC. 196. The Preventers, who still had to follow a lot of bureaucratic red tape, saw the advantage of Nexus and decided to sign the contract too. The Preventers were a highly classified organization, but everyone knew of it because of its work in the Eve Wars and the media coverage. As far as the world knew, however, there was no public record of an organization by the name of Nexus. Outside of Nexus agents and Dubois, only Director Une, Foreign Minister Darlian and few select Preventers agents knew of its existence.

And Nexus was looking for a new agent.

Still sitting up straight, Zechs digested the information he was just given, and didn't hear the question that he was asked. "I'm sorry, what was that sir?" he asked.

"I asked you if you had a problem breaking Earth Sphere Unified National Law?"

"I fought hard for this peace... so to keep it? I'd do just about anything." Zechs answered honestly, never breaking eye contact. Dubois didn't smile or nod before asking his next question.

"You're very young Zechs, so tell me why I should hire you?" Dubois asked, picking up a silver pen a twirling it expertly between his long manicured fingers.

"I have quite extensive training and battle histor-," Zechs started and bit back an irritated scowl as Dubois interrupted him.

"I know who you are and what you were, Zechs. The Eve Wars ended only last year, so you can save me from hearing your battle résumé. To me, you are still a child. So tell me right now why I should trust a _child_ with this position." Still sitting with his legs crossed, Dubois stared at Zechs with a smug smile, waiting for a response.

After weeks of sympathy and pity from everyone, Bruce's patronizing words reminded Zechs that he really despised being spoken to that way. A fire lit in his belly and he waited a moment, before looking up again.

"I'll be honest with you… Bruce," he said, confidence bubbling as he felt the broken hearted man step to the side and the commander took his place. "I came here, not actually knowing what it was, where I was going or even who I was going to meet. I came because my sister said it would be interesting and she was right. Nexus sounds very interesting and I would enjoy the challenge. However, I'm not going to sit here and list my great qualities to you like a lovesick boy hoping for a date. If you know who I am, then you know how qualified I am for any job of a classified nature…sir. I would be a great asset to your team and I've been doing this for a long time. I may be young, but I have been a soldier for half of my life. I take commands and I lead effectively, I however, don't like being talk down to." Zechs met Dubois eyes, daring and self-assured. Adrenaline surged just from his little speech, and he felt better than he had in weeks.

"So I can see," Dubois answered, quietly studying the individual in front of him. The man that walked through the door was different from the one sitting in front of him at that moment.

"And if you didn't trust me, you wouldn't have even held this interview." Zechs added, then felt a strange twang at the thought that maybe he stepped too far.

Zechs felt the blue gaze scrutinize him for minute, and to his surprise, Bruce's lips began to curve upward.

"I like you, Zechs," He said, "I think that you'd fit in really well here. Would you like the job?" he offered, and Zechs hesitated.

"Can I think about it?" he asked, getting up from his chair. Bruce stood up too and both men placed their empty glasses on the desk.

"I'm not sure what there is to think about, you just said you'd enjoy the challenge...but sure," Bruce replied.

"Well, I thought I had put the life of taking lives behind me," Zechs said, looking at the meadow scene on the large, flat screen. "I just want to make sure that I'm ready to be that person again."

Bruce nodded lightly and reached into the inner breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a black card. Zechs took the offered card and flipped it between his fingers. It was cut from simple, sturdy card stock and had three lines of white text on one side: an address in Antwerp and a phone number.

"Call when you're ready," Bruce said, reaching out a hand, "Just don't take too long," Zechs took his hand and shook it firmly.

"I'll be in touch," he replied, then turned and headed to the door.

Once outside, Zechs looked down at the business card and already knew from the feeling in his gut that he was going to take the job.

Inside, Bruce smiled to himself once the door clicked shut. He walked around his desk and sat down, He opened his sleek, silver laptop, hit the button marked with a video camera, and selected a name on the contact list.

The screen beeped happily for a few seconds before the call was picked up.

"Well?"

"I think that he is going to take it." Bruce answered, and Relena smirked at him.

"If I know my brother at all, he won't be able to say no."

"I hope that you're right. I could use his skills."

"And he could use the distraction." Relena replied, then added, "Thank you, Bruce."

"No," Bruce said, tipping his head in her direction, "Thank you, Minister."

Relena sent him one last small smile, then disconnected the call.


	3. The Rescue

Chapter 3

 **February 18, AC 198**

"And send." Zechs murmured to himself as he hit the enter button on his laptop and the report he'd written on his last mission, went off to Bruce with a 'swooshing' sound effect. He sat at his small, assigned, 3x5 desk, in an open co-working space with the desks of the other Nexus agents. It reminded Zechs of how cop bullpens were usually depicted in those old American movies. All open desks, no dividers, just enough room for your laptop, a lamp, an open file and a mug.

The bullpen at Nexus headquarters was mostly empty today, since at any time, any one of the current 18 agents could be on missions all over the planet or in the colonies. They did not see each other often. Nexus agents were assigned in teams of 3, so your teammates were typically the only agents you knew well. Zechs had only met/seen four others himself.

It'd been three months since Zechs accepted the job offer, and he had only been assigned one team member, but Bruce assured him that their third member was already selected. His partner's desk sat to the left of Zechs', facing it's their desks we in a L formation. The third, soon to be filled desk faced Zechs'. Both he and his new partner were new to Nexus so Bruce paired them both with one of the more experienced teams for training. The Lead for this team was a man named Flemming Dewitt.

Dewitt had honey colored eyes that popped like two topazes against the deep bronze of his skin and he usually had a smile on his face even when there was nothing to be smiling about. He had a strong personality but he and Zechs worked well together, and he was a good leader. Next on the team was the 5'2" petite blonde Ines Linberg, who sported a short pixie cut and a tattoo sleeve on her right arm that crawled over her shoulder and around her neck. Despite appearances, Ines was the oldest Nexus agent at 35. She became an agent at 19, and worked under Bruce's predecessor, Mishko Semenov. The last member was William Sutter, a quiet man who peered out from his halo of dark chocolate curls with his observant pair of light grey orbs. Flemming, Ines and Will had been a team for the last five years and they were like a well oiled machine.

The trio sat across the room at their own cluster of assigned desks, working on their own reports.

Zechs liked Flemming and his team, but he longed to go on his own missions.

Zechs stretched, arching his back over the back of his black desk chair, raising his curled fists over his head and let out a big yawn. It was already 9:00 a.m., but the only sleep he'd gotten was on the jet back from Argentina. He hadn't seen his little apartment in almost a week. His partner hadn't come with them to headquarters when they landed, and he didn't know where the man went.

The tall building in the run-down slums of Antwerp that housed Nexus Headquarters had essentially become his second home. The building used to a shoe factory and it was 9 stories of red brick, cement and rusty, broken machines. Nexus had moved into the top two floors, soundproofed them, furnished them, and added Forensics labs, a computer lab, an Undercover Unit, a Medical wing, interrogation rooms, offices, a gym, sleeping rooms, and holding cells. The rest of the building remained primarily untouched to aid the facade that it was an unoccupied building.

He wiped a tear from his eye and just as he was going to get up for some coffee, he heard the elevator open and footsteps echoed down the hallway. A black haired man turned the corner, bundled up in a thick black coat and black scarf around his neck. Zechs watched him approach, then stood to meet his partner, Wufei Chang.

Wufei walked up to Zechs with a scowl on his face, and Zechs had just come to assume that that was Wufei's regular expression, regardless if the former Gundam Pilot was actually annoyed by something or not. It'd been a month since Wufei joined Nexus but Zechs was still felt surprised every time he laid eyes on him. During the war, he and Wufei didn't interact much, but he still automatically thought of Wufei as an enemy. A Gundam who fought for the colonies while he fought for the Earth (at first). He could tell that Wufei fought the same instinct and the two still had a stiff relationship. He understood that they were allies and partners in their new organization, not enemies, so he actually put forth an effort to not be a jerk.

Relena called this "growth".

"Wufei," he greeted.

"Zechs," the Chinese man murmured back as he approached, and set the dark blue bag that he carried over his shoulder onto the desk. Wufei wore his onyx hair loose and it barely brushed the tops of his shoulders. He removed the heavy black winter jacket he wore, revealing a trim, toned figure, and placed it across the back of his desk chair.

Zechs was getting ready to ask Wufei something when a message popped onto his screen and the Wufei's Com buzzed in his pocket . In his peripheral vision, Zechs noticed Dewitt's team stirring and guessed that they had received the alert too.

There was a new assignment.

He stood up from his desk, shrugged at Wufei, and they walked across the room, meeting Dewitt's team, as they all made their way to Bruce's office.

The five agents were quiet as they walked alongside one-another down the long hallway to the only enclosed and private office in the building. Even Dorothy, Bruce's head administrator, had a desk just outside the red-head's office, like a secretary.

Her lavender eyes darted up as they approached and Zechs sent her a small nod. She gave him a small smile then looked back at her computer screen.

Flemming knocked on the door and immediately heard "Come in". They filed inside and closed the door behind them. Flemming, Ines and Will stood in their usual triangle formation, with Flemming in the front, Zechs and Wufei stood side by side, and all stood at ease.

"I just read your report." Bruce started, staring at Zechs. "Seems like everything went well?" he asked, even though he obviously knew that the mission had been successful.

"Yes, it went smoothly. We used minimum ammunition and the only casualty was the target."

"Excellent." Bruce nodded approvingly. Nexus' goal was to always stay under the radar, so massive casualties were discouraged unless it was absolutely necessary. "So, do you and Wufei feel ready to lead your own mission?" he asked, and Zechs grinned.

"Yes sir, I believe we can."

"Good. I'll send Flemming and his team with you but you and Wufei will take the lead." Bruce said, standing up. "I know you guys just returned, but there's been an incident and I need you to head out immediately." He bent over his laptop, hit a button, and a moment later the Coms in the five agents' pockets beeped. "I've just sent you the mission details, leave as soon as possible." he instructed and all the agents nodded with murmurings of 'Yes'sir'. As the agents turned to leave, Bruce added, "Flemming, can you stay another second?" and the tall man remained behind as Will, Ines, Wufei, and Zechs left the office.

Ines was already looking at her Com for the details, and her eyebrows furrowed immediately. She remained quiet and headed straight to her desk. Zechs pulled out his own Com and read as he walked over to his own desk.

 **Mission**

 **Rescue: Kay Longbow**

 **Details: At 0700 this morning, 2.18.198 there was a deadly explosion at the German Embassy in Rome, Italy. Four individuals, Don Wood, Kay Longbow, Karina Schultz, and Arthur Morales were present during the explosion and were ambushed by members of the terrorist cell who orchestrated the attack. Reports indicate that individuals, Wood, Schultz, and Morales, did not survive the attack. Their bodies have been recovered by civilian personnel. Ms. Longbow has been taken hostage by the group's leader, Yousef Kaiser. Demands have not yet been made. Nexus techs have located the cell's hideout and the most likely location to take a hostage. Recover Ms. Longbow and take out all members of the terrorist cell.**

Zechs looked up, nodding his head. Seemed like a standard mission with the twist of a rescue. What was so important about this woman? Was she part of the German hierarchy? A government official? He locked his Com with the press of a button and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He had never heard of any of the four people listed...but then again he didn't pay too much attention to politics anymore. _0700...so this only happened two and a half hours ago…_ he mused.

Zechs heard a door opening and closing distantly, and listened to Flemming's footsteps as he came down the hallway. When he entered the bullpen, he went straight to Ines and Will, who, Zechs just noticed, seemed to be slightly agitated by something. He watched the trio from the corner of his eye as they spoke in hushed tones and he could tell that something was wrong.

Wufei had also finished reading the mission and also noticed that something wasn't right with the others. He looked at Zechs with his black eyes, raised an eyebrow, and started to walk over. Zechs followed.

"Is everything alright?" Wufei asked, and the talking ceased right away and they all turned to face them. "Is there something we should know?"

Flemming flashed his bright white smile, and shook his head. "No, nothing is wrong," he reassured in his deep baritone. "Someone was just hoping to go home once we had finished our reports," he said with a nod in Ines' direction and she scowled up at him.

"Okay, well will you be ready to go soon?" Zechs asked, "I'm going to send the request for a helijet so we should get to the roof soon." he said, and Flemming nodded.

"We'll be ready."

"Okay. Meet us at the elevator in 10 minutes and we will go." Zechs instructed then turned and left. As he walked, he pulled out his Com and dialed the number for their assigned Nexus Tech, or their NT. When he first joined, he used Flemming's NT, Opal, but when Wufei joined, they were paired with Jeanne, and she was amazing. Her efficiency relaying data to them while they were out in the field was remarkable.

"Good morning Zechs," came Jeanne's pleasant voice, "Already headed out I see?"

"Morning Jeanne. Yeah, we've received a new assignment and I need to request a helijet."

"I've already got one for you. It should be landing in 5." she replied, proving once again that their jobs would not go as smoothly if they didn't have her.

"You are amazing." he said with a smile. He reached his desk and got his gun from the drawer.

"I know," she replied and Zechs could hear the smile in her voice. "I'll be logging into the ear pieces here in a few."

"Sounds good," he said and hung up. Zechs checked his magazine and then put the gun in the holster around his waist. Next, he pulled the little ear piece out of its case and put it into his ear. He locked his laptop, grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, and he and Wufei headed to the armory for a few more clips. Once they found what they needed in the well stocked room, they logged what they took, and headed over to the elevator. Flemming's team had come in behind him, followed all the same steps, and a minute later all five agents stepped out of the elevator and onto the roof, where the waiting helijet sat. Zechs wasn't sure exactly where Nexus got all of its funds for all of their technological and transportation, but he wasn't going to complain. Taking a helijet cut travel time in half.

A biting wind from the spinning helicopter rotors whipped into his face, and Zechs was momentarily grateful that he had decided to keep his hair short as he watched both Wufei's and William's hair swirled all round their heads.

Zechs looked past the helicopter, to the city beyond, and he could see the beautiful white blanket of snow that fell on Antwerp the night before. It was a chilly February day and Zechs could feel his nose and cheeks already reddening from the cold. He nodded at the pilot as he stepped into the back with the others and put on his head set.

They discussed the plan as they travelled on the quick helitjet and when they landed one hour later, they had their plan set. They had all of the information they needed to find the terrorist cell, with satellite images included.

Jeanne already had two SUV's waiting for them when they landed, and they drove quickly down to the warehouses near one of many old deserted fishing docks in Ostia, just south of Rome. They pulled up to Warehouse 5, parked, and made their way to Warehouse 7 on foot, going slowly and keeping an eye out for watchmen. They split up, Flemming, Ines and Wufei took the north side of the warehouse while Will and Zechs went south.

"Hey guys," Opal, Flemming's NT's voice sounded in their ears as they rounded the last corner, "We've got a problem." Her voice was a little higher than Jeanne's and had a slight Scottish accent.

"What's up?" Flemming asked and Will and Zechs stopped walking as they listened.

"Preventers are on their way. They are about an hour away."

"Damn," Flemming cursed. "Okay guys, we'll have to speed this up." Will and Zechs nodded to each other and continued their advancement on the warehouse. Going low, Zechs was about to step out from behind a barrel when he heard the crunch of gravel. He didn't stop as he stepped forward and stood up to meet whoever it was. It was a tall, muscular guard in all-black tactical gear. Zechs' sudden appearance took him by surprise and he took a staggering step back. His eyes bulged as he reached for his gun but before he could raise his rifle to shoot, Zechs reached out, grabbed the muzzle of the rifle, thrust it to the side and rammed his right elbow into the man's throat. The large man let out a surprised grunt and wheeze as he fell back, smacking the side of the building with his head and sliding down, unconscious.

"Nice," Will commented quietly as he took the man's rifle and slung it around his shoulders. They bound him then continued on, making it to the back entrance and only encountering one more guard. The door was stupidly left unlocked and they snuck into the building.

"We're in," Zechs reported under his breath as he held his new rifle.

"We are too," Flemming responded.

"Okay, Will and I will head to the lower level and clear it while you three clear this level. Everyone keep a look out for Kaiser, he might have another bomb on him so be careful."

"Copy," Flemming, Ines and Wufei murmured and everyone went radio silent. Zechs and Will met no other guards as they wound their way around old, rusted, shipping containers to the stairs located at the southwest corner. There were no lights in the steep cement stairwell and they pulled out their LED flashlights as they descended. Both men switched to their handguns, and crossed their wrists with the gun in one and and the flashlights underneath. The bright white light revealed the staircase to be dank and dirty, and Will pointed to a disturbance in the light layer of dirt.

"We have drag marks and footsteps," Will reported in low voice, but there was no response. There was a popping in the distance and Zechs knew they had encountered the rest of the guards.

Zechs could hear the steady thrum of his heart as he and Will made their way slowly across the 3000 sqft. warehouse basement. It was crammed with an assortment of abandoned items and Zechs could detect the smell of wood rot and decay. It was eerily quiet, the air felt dense and nothing echoed. The basement was nearly filled to capacity, with boxes reaching the ceiling in some areas. They passed a large crate, nearly as tall as Zechs, and he jumped when the sudden sound of scuffling came from right next to his face. Gasping, he took an alarmed step back, pointing his gun and flashlight towards the crate. The fat, gray rat seemed unamused by the light in its face and scurried away, and Will let out a single snort of amusement.

As they made their way deeper into the warehouse, Zechs felt as if they were descending into the guts of a whale. The smell was getting worse, and it was surprisingly warm despite the frigid temperatures outside. They walked until their flashlight beams shined on a steel wall with giant industrial door with thick plastic strips hanging down in front of the opening. It looked to be a multi-use locker, it could be either a freezer or a hot box, and the comically sized switch on the outside was flipped down for heat.

The plastic strips on the door were usually meant to keep cold air in, but now they did nothing to hold back the warm air and putrid smell that seeped from the open door.

"There's something dead in there," Zechs murmured, knowing death when he smelled it, and Will nodded.

They advanced slowly on the door, breathing through their mouths, and stopped in their tracks when a noise came from inside.

He couldn't quite make out what it was, but goosebumps immediately crawled up his arms. It was a rasping noise, slow and repeating every few seconds. They heard it over and over again... quiet but desperate. They inched closer to the noise, which was also accompanied by an occasional rustling and footsteps.

"Your friends are upstairs, here to save you." They heard a heavily accented deep voice growl. "But you'll be dead by the time they find you down here."

There was a muffled response then the single sharp smack of a fist on flesh. As they got closer, the rasping noise became more desperate, and Zechs realized what it was. It was the sound of a human struggling to breathe, and his own breath stopped.

Sudden images of Lucrezia in the Mars runner, panicking as she rolled down the ravine, and suffocating when her air escaped, flooded his brain. He saw it over and over again, and her panic and terror ran through his blood like ice water.

Suddenly, a hand grasped his arm and he jerked back to his body. Will was staring at him angrily and Zechs realized that he had frozen in his footsteps and was covered in a cold sweat. He noticed that a new sound filled the room… the unmistakable sound of a mechanical lift.

The struggle noises increased and the man inside chuckled with pleasure.

Will signaled to Zechs and both men advanced, guns at the ready.

They didn't call out a warning as they entered the stuffy, foul, dimly lit room. Zechs took a quick scan, seeing the guards, their leader, and their target who was hanging helplessly, mere inches from the ground, from the rope around her neck. The rope was wrapped around meat hook and it was slowly lifting her into the air. Her arms were tied behind her back, and she wiggled helplessly but her attempts were grew weaker and weaker as she was strangled to death.

"Oh my god," Zechs murmured as he and Will took the guards out one by one, moving closer and closer to her as they did. Kaiser had taken one look at them when they entered and bolted out the back door of the locker. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

"Get her!" Will yelled at him as he started to run, "I'll get him!" And he was out the door behind the group leader.

Zechs found the mechanism for the lift and quickly shut it off, and turned to the woman. She was just a little too high for him to reach the rope but he stepped up on the chair that he assumed she had been seated in, and unsheathed the knife on his belt. Balancing his tall frame on the wobbly chair, he wrapped an arm around her waist, reached up, and easily sliced through the rope connected to the meat hook. He realized that she was unconscious when he almost dropped her as her dead weight was released from the hook. Dropping the knife, he tightened his grip on her and quickly but carefully brought her down to the ground. Then he looped his fingers under the tight rope around her neck and pulled it loose, but she didn't stir.

"Nonono," he muttered to himself as he straightened her body, tilted her head back and started CPR.

After a few breaths, she suddenly drew in a deep, ragged breath and began coughing violently, arching her back then twisting to the side. Remembering that her hands were still tied, he cut them loose. She continued to cough and suck in air, bringing her arms around her head for support. Zechs was unsure what to do, so he kneeled and waited next to her. Then she grew quiet, laying her head down on the warm metal floor.

"Hey…" he said, laying a hand on her back. He felt her take a shallow breath and could feel her steady heartbeat but she didn't move. He grasped her shoulder, careful of the red blistering burns that covered them, and turned her over, resting her head on his knee. "Shit," he murmured as his flashlight shined on her face and it highlighted the angry red ligature that mark wrapped itself around her neck and her face was a shade of reddish-purple. She had been beaten badly, half of her face was swollen and bruised, and there were two spots on her cheek and eyebrow where the skin had been split. He could tell from the swelling in her hands and crooked digits that several of her fingers had been broken and there were more areas on her arms that had angry, red blisters, which Zechs presumed were from the bomb explosion. ' _Sick bastard'_ he thought to himself, staring at the unconscious woman, but a quick look at her beaten and burned body told him that she hadn't suffered any other abuses.

She was wearing a torn and bloody blue tank top, a sports bra, and ankle length black workout spandex, and all were singed and burnt in areas. Her brown hair had been swept into a high bun but a lot of loose strands had come loose throughout the torture, and they were plastered to her face and neck with her blood and sweat.

"Zechs…" Flemming's voice sounded in his ear, reminding Zechs of where he was, "Did you get her?"

Zechs swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded to himself.

"Yes. I have her."

"Is she alive?"

"Yes." he answered and could have sworn that he heard several sighs of relief.

"Good, do you need help bringing her upstairs?" Flemming asked and Zechs stared down at the limp body before him.

"No, I've got her. What happened to Kaiser?" He asked as he shifted her body.

"We got him." Came the reply.

"Good. He's a sick bastard." Zechs growled. Putting an arm under her knees and the other under her back, Zechs stood up and lifted her easily. He held the flashlight awkwardly between two fingers and made sure the beam shined forward.

As he walked out through the plastic strips and out of the lockers, the slightly cooler air came as a relief to Zechs, who found himself dripping with sweat. The cooler air also smelled different, reminding him that they didn't even look for the other dead body that was obviously hidden within.

He didn't care. He got who they came for.

As he walked, she remained unconscious but her breathing was steady.

As Zechs wound his way through the basement, back to the steps, he couldn't help the little tingle of pride that he felt in his chest. There weren't many rescue missions in Nexus, as most of their missions were straight up assassinations. It felt good to save someone for once.

Zechs made it to the dark stairwell a few minutes later and started to ascend. Three flashlight beams appeared at the top, and Flemming, Ines and Wufei came into view. Zechs noticed that Will was gone, Wufei was bleeding from a gunshot wound on his upper right bicep, and that the others had various cuts and scratches as well.

"Jesus," Ines murmured when they were near enough to see the woman in his arms. Zechs watched Flemming and Ines' faces and knew immediately that they weren't telling him something. They both wore the identical blank, hard mask you put on keep others from knowing what you were thinking, when in fact, your brain was running all over the place.

Zechs had that particular look down to a science.

But of the two, Ines' reaction seemed a little much for someone that they didn't know. _She knows her…_ Zechs thought.

"Tell me right now," he demanded.

"Tell you what?" Flemming asked, maintaining his mask and flashing him a small side smile.

"I'm not an idiot." Zechs growled staring into Flemming's yellow eyes, "Who is this woman?"

Flemming hesitated but kept his mask on. Ines seemed to struggle with something, biting her tongue and rolling her eyes, before letting out an angry huff.

"This is stupid," she growled to herself then looked up at Zechs, "She is one of ours, Zechs." She spit out before Flemming could stop her. The two shared angry stares at one another before Flemming gave up with shrug and a sigh.

"What?" Zechs asked, surprised. He had not been expecting that. Wufei, who had remained rather impassive during this exchange, also looked startled at the news. Zechs peered down at the unconscious form in his arms with new eyes, trying to remember if he had ever seen her before. "One of ours?"

"Yes," Ines said in an exasperated voice, "She, they... Don, Karina, Art and Kay, are from Nexus."


	4. Unexpected

**Chapter 4**

The four Nexus agents climbed to the top of the stairs, and started heading towards the exit. Zechs shifted the woman, Kay, in his arms and he scanned the warehouse when they made it to the main level. Still no sign of Will.

"What happened to Will?" Zechs asked, hoping he wasn't among the numerous bodies he saw lying on the warehouse floor.

"He ran to get one of our vehicles," Flemming answered, "The Preventers are close, we've got to move."

They continued through the warehouse, and came to a small clearing, where Zechs saw a man sitting, taped to a chair. As they neared, he realized that it was the group leader, Kaiser, easily recognizable with his mix of blonde and blue hair. Wufei and Ines walked past the man, but Flemming stopped as he walked up to him. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and a marker, "Found these in an office earlier," he explained then started writing something on the paper. Over his shoulder, Zechs read "You're Welcome," and couldn't help but smile when Flemming looked up at him with a mischievous smirk.

"This will really piss them off," he grinned, then stuffed the note between Kaisers bound hands. Zechs let out a short laugh and Flemming stood and two men followed Ines and Wufei to the exit of the warehouse.

"The Preventers don't really know about us right?" Zechs asked. Flemming held the door open for him as he carefully maneuvered out the single door with the woman in his arms. His arms ached and longed for relief, so he was glad to see Will with the large SUV when he walked out into the cold but humid and fishy air of the Italian docks.

"I think some of them do, the more experienced agents- oh and they have three of those kids who were Gundam pilots during the war. We worked a mission with Yuy, Maxwell and Barton last year, before you joined." Flemming said, opening the door for Zechs. "We did NOT get along," he laughed. Zechs noticed Wufei jerk his head slightly at the mention of Heero, Duo and Trowa, but he said nothing. If Flemming didn't know Wufei had been a Gundam pilot, then it could stay that way as far as Zechs was concerned. Everyone knew Zech's past; his history and involvement in the war was far too documented to remain unknown- but Wufei was able to fly under the radar, which Zechs envied slightly.

Wufei, Ines and Will got into the back of the SUV, and carefully Zechs laid Kay across their laps. As he went around to the passenger side, he heard the rumble of engines from the far side of the warehouse lot. He looked up just as three black cars came racing around the corner. At first the lead car was headed to the entrance of the warehouse, but he could tell they had seen him, and redirected towards them.

It was Heero. Zechs wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew.

Quickly, he ducked into the car, and Flemming peeled away.

* * *

Three black Preventers SUVs barreled down the alley between the warehouses, zooming past pallets and hanging fish nets. They weaved their way between the many buildings and hurried toward Warehouse 7 on the docks in Ostia.

In the driver's seat of the leading vehicle, Heero Yuy, gripped the steering wheel tight as he skidded around an alarmed fisherman and cursed. They were so close. They had been tracking this organization for months, but they hadn't fast enough to stop the attack...so many were dead. He gritted his teeth at the thought. He had to get them.

He was the first to see the other car about 500 yards away at the other end of the warehouse. His prussian eyes narrowed as he immediately recognized it as the type of car that 'the other' organization, Nexus, typically used. Heero scowled. ' _What is Nexus doing here?'_ He wondered to himself as he sped up and headed toward them. He had only had a hand full of run-ins with those agents and he couldn't say that he enjoyed any of those experiences. Heero knew about the agreement between the Preventers and Nexus and he did not like it. Each encounter with those detached hit-men had left him with a sour taste in his mouth. He wasn't exactly the warmest person himself, but at least he didn't kill for money.

The passenger door of the black car was open and a tall blonde man was getting in. The man looked up as Heero's car approached, looking at the oncoming cars through a pair of black sunglasses, and Heero felt a sudden twinge of recognition. The man looked familiar; the height was right but the hair…no, it couldn't be. The last time he saw Zechs Merquise he still had his signature long blonde mane, and this man, while blonde, had short hair. It couldn't be him… could it?

The man got in and closed the door, and the car sped off before Heero could find out for certain. He wanted to speed after them but mission was too important. They couldn't go rushing after Nexus when they had to find and stop their target.

Already frustrated, Heero turned back to the task at hand and came to a screeching halt in front of the dull gray warehouse. He climbed out of the car, swiping his long bangs out of his face as he stared up at the rusted building. Car doors slammed all around him, and the other agents joined him. His primary partners, Duo and Trowa came up beside him and looked up too.

"Why do you think they were here?" Trowa asked in a voice, low enough that only he and Duo could hear. Heero didn't take his eyes off the building as he unholstered his weapon.

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about what we are going to find in there," he muttered. Signaling to his men, they entered.

They entered the main storage area of the warehouse and Heero could immediately smell blood and gunpowder.

"Dammit," he cursed, "they shot the fucking place up." He growled angrily as he swept his flashlight and gun in front of him. It was tough to see anything with a single, thin beam, but every way he turned, he caught glimpses of red. "Why the fuck were they here?!"

"That is a puzzling question." He heard Trowa mumble calmly from a few feet away. "Duo, any luck with lights?" the green eyed agent asked louder behind them. In response, there was a disturbance as something hollow was knocked over, followed by a string of curses. Then there was a whirring noise and the giant, fluorescent overhead lights came on. Duo joined them a moment later and the three agents silently took in the grizzly sight in front of them.

Four bodies lay scattered on the ground ahead of them, and Heero knew the deeper into the warehouse they went, the more they would find. They moved forward, and came to an open area three rows of pallets in, in the middle sat their target, Yousef Kaiser, unmistakable with his bright blonde hair, cut short with a stripe of blue down the middle. The man was beaten, bloodied, gagged and strapped to a chair with thick fisherman's rope. Heero walked up to the man, unsure if he was alive, but as he got closer he noticed that the man was, indeed, breathing.

And there was a note wedged between the unconscious man's hands. Heero reached for it and unfolded it.

 **You're welcome.**

Heero crumpled the note up angrily and tossed it on the floor.

"Fucking cocky assholes." he murmured and turned to Duo and Trowa, who had been watching him. Duo smirked a little but wiped it off quickly as Heero glared in his direction.

"Cocky, yes, but they did the hard part for us, at least." Trowa said logically, and Heero gnashed his teeth as he surveyed the area. He could see two more dead men. How many more were there?

"I hate those guys." he growled. "Get the men. We'll canvas the area and make sure that there aren't any stragglers...although I'm sure there won't be."

Duo and Trowa nodded and walked away, leaving Heero to fume.

* * *

The Preventers hadn't followed them, and they made it to the airfield without incident.

Zechs' mind had swirled the entire flight home in the helijet, as he watched the woman, Kay, strapped safely to the bright orange stretcher in front of him, asleep. Aside from the obvious injuries, it was difficult to know if she was suffering other internal injuries so they wanted to get her to Med as soon as possible.

When they landed, Will and Flemming had taken command of the stretcher and Zechs left Wufei behind to go talk with Bruce.

But neither Bruce or Dorothy were there when he arrived, so Zechs paced angrily in front of the office until the tall man came around the corner 45 minutes later.

"Where have you been?" Zechs remanded.

"...I've been taking care of some things." Bruce answered blandly.

"We need to talk."

Bruce walked past Zechs, unlocked the door and went in without saying anything. Zechs followed, and closed the door behind him.

"What is it Zechs, it's been a long day." There were lines of exhaustion around his eyes but he sat straight and stiff as he sat in his seat across the desk waiting for Zechs to speak.

"You lied to us!" Zechs burst angrily, cutting to the chase.

Bruce looked up at him impatiently.

"What?" He asked as if Zechs had just asked him why the sky was blue.

"You lies to us!" He repeated, "Why didn't you tell me she was one of ours? Why didn't you tell me any of them were ours?!"

"You didn't need to know that to do your job." Bruce answered cooly.

"It would have been nice to know." Zechs argued.

"I don't give a damn what you think you needed to know. Now leave, I have work to do." Impatience and anger flared through the exhaustion in Bruce's eyes.

"You are acting like you didn't just lose an entire team! What is wrong with you?!" Zechs felt the anger boil over and he stood with his fists involuntarily clenched. At this, the exhaustion vanished and Bruce's eyes sharpened with anger. He set his elbows on the armrests of his chair and linked his fingers together over his abdomen.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't insinuate that I don't care about my people, Zechs. You are still new here and don't know how things work, but surely you're not so **thick** that you haven't noticed that this dangerous business and occasionally we lose people. And how I handle the loss of an agent is none of your _goddamn_ business." He spoke with cool voice, but anger punctuated his last statement. He started to turn in his chair, but swiveled back to face Zechs. His anger was flared, but he took a deep breath and got it back under control. "And as for why I didn't tell you…" He continued, "I didn't tell you because it wasn't necessary. I needed you to get a job done, and knowing she was an agent would have done nothing but give you an additional and unneeded sense of urgency that would have done nobody any good. You went in with a clear head and accomplished your mission." Bruce explained. To his surprise, Zechs actually found it a reasonable explanation and felt his anger ebb away.

"Oh, okay. But why not just say that in the first place?"

"Because I don't have to explain my decisions to you." Bruce answered and the two men stared across the desk at each other.

"What if he fucked up?" a hoarse female voice barked from behind him and Zechs turned around in surprise. It was her.

She had showered and obviously someone had tended to her. She wore a oversized black, long sleeved turtleneck sweater, long black pants, and white socks. Her dark brown hair was wet and down, and was much longer than Zechs had guessed, stopping just above her waist. She had two bandaids on her face, a white bandage wrapped around her head, and he could see the bulkiness of the finger splints under the long sleeves. Zechs knew that the turtleneck was hiding the angry ligature mark that wrapped itself around her neck. The white bandage that wrapped around her head covered the right side of her forehead and right eye, but her left eye was an alarmingly bright red of burst capillaries that was adamantly ignoring Zechs and glaring at the redhead behind the desk.

He wondered briefly how it was that she was upright, but when he looked closer at her face, he noticed how her lips were white and pinched, and how her pale face was covered in a light sheen of sweat. She was definitely in pain.

"I didn't send him there alone, Flemming's team was right there." Bruce said in explanation and she scoffed. He smiled lightly. "What are you doing here, Kay? Your de-briefing isn't until tomorrow."

"I had to talk to you."

"You should be in Med." Bruce scolded but Kay shook her head.

"I don't care. Look, I don't appreciate being used as a goddamn training exercise… why did you send the new guy?!" Her voice was rough and cracked slightly at her exclamation.

"You're welcome," Zechs muttered to himself, but his comment went ignored.

"Did you come down here against medical advice just to yell at me?" Bruce asked. She nodded and Bruce chuckled. "It wasn't as training exercise, Kay. Zechs wasn't going to screw it up." Their boss said, uncharacteristically kind, "While it was an emergency mission, I did do it for a reason." a hint of a mysterious smile touched his lips.

"Which was?" she asked impatiently, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I thought it would be a good opportunity for he and Wufei to meet their new partner." He said with a smile, and there was a moment of absolute silence as it sunk in.

"WHAT?!" Both Zechs and Kay exclaimed at the same time and they both took a step back to look at each other. They mirrored each other almost perfectly and Bruce smiled again.

"Yes… I do think this will work," he mumbled mostly to himself. He stood up and both agents looked back at him with anger and surprise burning in their eyes. He seemed to ignore their questioning looks and stared right at Kay, who had begun to cough.

"Kay, you shouldn't even be up right now. Please go back to Sally. Tell her I want both physical and psychological exams done, and then you need to rest." He ordered, changing the subject.

"I don't need a psych eval," she refused, seeming to completely forget the news they were both just told. Bruce walked around the desk, crossed his arms and looked her in the eyes.

"I will not take 'no' for an answer. A lot happened to you, three agents died in front of you… I need to know that you're okay." The caring tone of Bruce's voice surprised Zechs.

"I've been through worse, I'm fine." she insisted in a voice so low Zechs barely heard her, and their boss shook his head.

"I don't care. Go back to Sally." He ordered. She frowned at him but turned to leave.

"Fine, I'll go…" she started, then turned to her head and looked Zechs in the eyes. "...but I refuse to work with that asshat," she growled and limped out the door, leaving Zechs stunned and staring after her.

"Asshat?" He repeated and turned to see Bruce trying to hide a smirk.

* * *

Sally Po could feel the blood rising in her face as she stared angrily at her two new nurses.

"How on EARTH did you let Kay leave her room?!" She scolded, completely aghast that the her patient had just up and walked away in her condition. Sally had checked every room on the Med floor and the brunette woman was nowhere to be found. "Go and find her, and bring her back here!" She ordered and the two nurses both squeaked "yes, ma'am!" and scurried off.

Sally sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Goddammit Kay…" she muttered to herself. It wasn't the first time Kay had slipped away from her partially treated, "Next time i'm handcuffing you to the bed," she growled and turned as the elevator behind her dinged.

She watched the doors open, half expecting Kay to be behind them and gasped when she saw the black haired, black eyed young man who stood there.

"Wufei?!" Her mouth hung open in surprise and he looked equally surprised to see her, his eyes were wide and he stood frozen in the elevator.

It had been almost a year since they had seen each other, and it has been an awkward parting. A few months after end of the war, Wufei had plucked up the nerve to ask her out to dinner and they ended up going out five more times. They had a great time together but unfortunately, they both had gotten busy with work, dates got cancelled, phone calls went unreturned and eventually they had drifted apart. He had heard from his old colleague Trowa that Sally had left the Preventers, but no one seemed to know where she left to. He thought he'd never see her again… and here she was.

He recovered quickly before the elevator door could close, and he reached her in three strides. Wufei looked hastily around the little elevator lobby, he put a hand on her back, and lead her to the corner of the room. She seemed startled that he was touching her and guiding her to the corner and she wiggled away from him but didn't move any further.

"Sally, what are you doing here?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," She said in a normal voice, slightly puzzled, but then her eyes moved to the tear in this long sleeved shirt and the spot of dried and fresh red blood on his right arm. "You're hurt,"

His eyes followed hers, as if he had forgotten about the flesh wound and he shrugged, "It's just a scratch." he said, then returned to the main question at hand, looking at her questioningly with his black eyes, "Do you work here?"

She nodded slowly. "I do, and you?"

He nodded also. "I do...Wait- so how long?"

"I've been here 9 months," she answered, feeling slightly preoccupied by the wound on Wufei's arm. Without asking, she reached out, lightly grabbing his noticeably muscular bicep and lifted the ripped sleeve to get a better look. It wasn't a simple scratch, she noted, the bullet had ripped through a good five inches of skin and flesh. Wufei was about to ask a question but she cut him off. "Wufei, you need stitches. Follow me." she ordered and turned without waiting for him to answer. She walked to her main exam room without turning around, and smiled a little to herself when she heard the door close behind her.

"How long have you worked for Nexus?" She asked, glancing briefly over her shoulder to look at him. He was standing next to the bed, staring at her.

"Only one month," he answered.

"Oh, so not that long, no wonder I haven't seen you."

"Hmph," he grunted. The familiar sound made Sally smile.

"Can you take your shirt off, please? I don't need that annoyance while I patch you up." she asked as she turned back to the counter and started to gather some gauze, hydrogen peroxide and her stitch-kit. She heard him hesitate momentarily, then heard the rustling of clothing.

When she turned around, she found herself frozen again, with her mouth slightly ajar as she stared at the male form in front of her. Wufei had gotten...very...muscular since the last time she saw him. He had always been a fit young man, but another year had definitely filled him out.

Suddenly images of their time together the year before popped in her had had fun but she had never let it get past friendship. She had always been (and still was) self conscious about their nearly 11 year age gap. His birthday was in late December and he just turned 19, and she would be 30 in October . But he had always been so mature that somehow it was the last thing on her mind when they were together. He made her feel so comfortable and she had really enjoyed their dates...

"What?" he asked, see her hesitation and he looked slightly uncomfortable. She blinked out of the memory, blushing as she looked away.

' _Geezus Sally,'_ she thought to herself, ' _head out of the gutter, you haven't seen the man in a year.'_

"Oh nothing, sorry." She smiled but didn't meet his eyes and she walked up to him. Keeping her eyes on her hands, she folded the gauze and soaked it with peroxide. "I was just surprised that you actually took your shirt off, I expected an argument...this will sting" she said as she pressed the gauze on the horizontal wound. He didn't flinch but his eyes followed her as she moved.

"Well It seemed like a reasonable request." he replied and she felt another small smile creep onto her lips.

"Yeah-but," she looked up into the eyes of the notoriously stubborn man and shook her head. "Nevermind. Now that it's cleaned up, it's not as bad as it looked, but it'll still need a few stitches." she reported and he nodded.

"Alright then."

They fell silent as she set to work, cleaning the wound then stitching it up.

Wufei watched her out of the corner of his eye; her head was bent in concentration as she effortlessly sewed him up. He found himself taking advantage of her distraction to admire the soft curves of her body, the beautiful bright blue of her eyes, and the light floral scent he picked up from her golden hair...

He was vaguely aware of the sound of clipping scissors and quickly diverted his eyes when she straightened up.

"There, good as 'almost' new," she said with a smile.

"'Almost' new?" he repeated, raising an eyebrow. She grinned and caught his eye, and their conversation trailed off as they stared at one another. It was one or two heartbeats before Sally blinked, cleared her throat and turned away, starting to busy herself with clean up.

"Thank you," Wufei murmured, picking up his shirt.

"You're welcome."

There was a knot in his stomach as he put his shirt back on and his heart was suddenly in his throat as silence fell again. He watched Sally begin to sanitize her implements and blurted "It's great to see you Sally. You... look really beautiful."

She stopped moving, stopped breathing it seemed like, and after 5 seconds Wufei felt she was choosing to ignore his comment. He nodded to himself and turned to leave, feeling slightly rejected but understanding why she would not want to acknowledge his comment.

"You do too." she finally replied. He stopped and he turned back to her, to find her facing him, a light blush on her cheeks. "I... I like your hair down like that," she added and the blush seemed to increase.

"I-uh," Wufei started but was interrupted by a squeal from outside the room and both of their heads jerked towards the door. Recognizing the cry, Sally rolled her eyes with a sigh, and headed to the door, "Excuse me a second."

She opened the door and exited, and curious, Wufei followed her out.

"Ms. Longbow please! Dr. Po said you need to stay here!" wailed a petite nurse with short, maroon hair. She was in simple nurse's scrubs and was bravely holding onto the tail of the other woman's shirt, even though she looked as if she were about to cry.

"Well she's not here, and like hell if I'm going to stay here with you!" The other insulted, her voice was raspy and she smacked the nurse's hand away. A white bandage was wrapped around her head, covering one eye.

She was dressed in a long black turtleneck and long black pants, and looked down irritatedly at the nurse, who let out a whimper and withdrew her hand. Wufei noticed how the woman winced in pain when she smacked the nurse's hand and thought she looked familiar.

"Goddammit Kay, stop making Trine cry!" Sally yelled at the woman, and both women jerked their heads in Sally's direction. "And Trine! Stop crying!"

' _Kay?'_ Wufei though as he studied the woman's half swollen face, and realized with a jolt that she was the woman they had rescued! She was walking around already?!

"S-she's so mean," the nurse tearfully croaked, but she took a deep breath and was able to calm herself. Kay, meanwhile, had turned and started walking to the elevator. Sally stopped her with a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Her voice was stern, but Wufei thought detected a hint of humor.

Kay stopped and turned to face Sally.

"Well, I was thinking about heading home for some well-needed rest. Doctors orders." she replied, and the angry expression she had only moments before, melted away into a sly smile. Wufei could tell from that simple look, that she and Sally had some sort of friendship.

"Nice try," Sally said sternly. "Get back into the bed where I left you, and wait for me." she ordered. Kay, apparently not in the mood to argue anymore, shrugged, rolled her eye, murmured "Okay, fine." and headed off in the other direction.

Wufei waited until she was out of earshot before walking back up to Sally.

"That's the woman we brought back, right?"

"Yep." Sally sounded exasperated.

"How is she up and walking?" he asked curiously, and Sally shook her head as she watched the women enter the room at the end of the hallway.

"She has an incredibly high pain tolerance, and she is as stubborn as sin." She said and started walking back to her exam room, mumbling to herself. Wufei couldn't hear most of it, but his ears pricked when she said, "- pilot a damned Gundam,"

"Wait- what?" He asked, chasing after her. He caught up to her and touched her arm.

"Huh?" Sally looked at him, wide-eyed unaware that he had heard her grumblings.

"Did you just say that she can pilot a Gundam?"

"Wha- oh- no. I didn't say that." She shook her head, "Not what I said," she repeated adamantly and continued to walk. Wufei narrowed his eyes, smelling something fishy, and followed her.

"What did you mean by it then?"

"You misheard me." she insisted, not quite meeting his eye.

"I heard you say the word Gundam. Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not acting weird."

"You are!" They stopped walking and they stared at one another. Sally's blue gaze bore into his black one and she clenched her teeth. He could see the muscles in her jaw and neck work. Suddenly, she looked over she shoulder and ushered him back into the exam room. Wufei let her push him in and watched her curiously as she closed the door and locked it.

He waited patiently while she bit her lip and looked away from him. Sally sat in the chair and Wufei waited expectantly. A few seconds ticked by and finally he said,

"So?"

Sally pursed her lips and Wufei frowned, suddenly feeling bad.

"Sally, you don't have to tell me." he said, but she sighed, resigned.

"It's not that this is a secret," she started, "It's just that she doesn't like to talk about it." she said, grabbing his interest. He continued to wait patiently then she continued. "I honestly don't know too much about what her role was exactly, but Kay also fought in the war."

"So?" Wufei asked unimpressed, "There were thousands of soldiers in the war."

"But she was one of Doctor J's soldiers...," She said quietly, and Wufei stared at her mutely for a moment as that implication sunk in.

"Doctor J? As in Heero's Doctor J? The lunatic?" He asked astonished, and she nodded.

"Is there another?" Sally asked rhetorically and he moved to the other remaining chair and sat down.

"So…" Wufei started, processing the information, "did she have a Gundam suit?" he asked, and she shrugged.

"Maybe? I don't know. I know that she's at least piloted one before. She told me once how she was forced to use Z.E.R.O, not knowing that I knew what Z.E.R.O was."

"What's her training? Was she trained like Heero? Does Heero know about her?" He tossed out the questions but Sally shook her head.

"I don't know much else, I really don't. Like I said, she doesn't like to talk about it. Can you not mention it to anyone? I didn't mean for you to overhear me."

"Is she mentally sound?" He asked, ignoring her question, and Sally stopped and stared at him, shocked.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A valid one." He responded, and at her frown he continued, "I'm not saying Master O was the best role model, but he didn't have as many loose screws as Doctor J."

"Are you saying Heero isn't all there either then?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Have you ever talked to the man at length?" He answered rhetorically, and Sally read that to mean that he **did** think Heero was a little unstable. She shook her head.

"I've read her initial-intake psychological evaluation and she's fine." He noted the defensive tone in her voice. ' _Yes,'_ he thought, ' _they are friends.'_

"Okay," he conceded, not wanting to anger her, "I'm sorry I asked. I won't say anything." He reassured her, and she relaxed. "Chances are, I will rarely see her anyway." He added and she nodded.

"Probably not." She agreed, knowing that it wasn't often than Nexus agents on different teams saw one another.

They fell into an awkward silence, standing alone in Sally's locked exam room. Sally realized what it would look like to anyone peering in through the small window, and moved to leave.

"I should go," she said, "Kay actually does need medical attention,"

"Right, of course," Wufei murmured. He watched her turn to leave and without thinking, he stood up and reached out to Sally, lightly touching her hand before she could unlock the door. She looked up at him in surprise and they stared into each other's eyes once more.

"Will you have dinner with me?" He asked on an impulse, surprising even himself. Sally hesitated for a moment before smiling a little.

"Yes." She answered and he nodded with a little smile, releasing the breath he didn't know he had been holding. She unlocked the door and smile grew into a smirk. "My number is still the same, so actually call this time, okay?" She added and left the room before he could answer.

He left the room in time to see her coat tails disappear around the corner. He made it to the elevator with a small smile on his lips and hit the down button.

He needed to find Zechs.

* * *

He found him standing by their desks, putting his coat on. Zechs' eyes looked in his direction as he made his way across the room of desks, and the blonde man made a small pointing motion at him through the hand that came through the coat sleeve.

"Where have you been?" Zechs asked when Wufei reached the desk, and Wufei motioned to his right arm.

"Upstairs in Med, needed a few stitches," he answered, purposely leaving out mention of Sally, and Zechs nodded. "What did Bruce say?"

"Well, apparently we weren't just rescuing a Nexus agent today," Zechs said with an exaggerated tone as he straightening the collar of his jacket. "We were rescuing our new partner."

Wufei stared at him blankly for a moment before his eyes widened and his jaw dropped for the second time that day.

"You're fucking kidding me right?"

"I wish I was."

He was about to ask another question when they both heard the quick clip of high heeled shoes and a blonde blur passed by the corridor on its way to Bruce's office.

"Was that Director Une?" Zechs asked, Wufei shrugged and shook his head.

"Probably."

"What the hell is going on today?"

"Fucked if I know."

* * *

The sound of footsteps made Dorothy look up from her tablet and the contract she painfully trying to get through and she sat up straight, ready to greet Director Une. When she received the alert that Une had arrived at the Nexus gate, she started the coffee maker and notified Bruce, then sat back down at her desk. Dorothy sighed and straightened the pen on her desk..usually she was able to stay busy at her position as Bruce's Administrative Assist-….oh, who was she kidding...She was his secretary, and it sucked.

How had she, Dorothy Catalonia, end up a secretary?! She had been meant for so many great things! But it had all crumpled around her feet when she made one slip of the tongue remark at her last ESUN meeting about missing the old days when the unruly colonies had been forced to listen to the Earth's leaders. They had booted her swiftly out and wouldn't even allow her to file an appeal.

Une had taken pity on her and referred her for a position within Nexus, and organization has had never heard of before. She accepted the position, not realizing that it was a glorified secretarial job.

She sighed again as she tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and stood up as the footsteps grew nearer.

"Welcome Director," she greeted with a forced smile. Director Lady Une was chic in a black pencil skirt, a grey blazer and black belt cinching her waist. Her straight chestnut hair was gathered in a sleek french bun and she didn't smile as she marched up to Dorothy.

"Hello Dorothy, is he in?" she asked. Dorothy nodded and without breaking her stride, Une walked into the office. Bruce was in the corner of the room, lounging in a white leather Balin chair and reading something on a tablet.

He looked up when she entered and smiled.

"Ah, Lady*, how can I help you?" He asked, flipping his tablet over and standing up. He could tell she was mad and smiled again. {*authors note: there are a few different theories about what Unes first name is, but one of the more popular is that her first name is actually Lady, and lady is not her title. I have chosen to use Lady as her first name.}

"What were your men doing in Ostia?" she demanded, "I didn't summon your agents. They were out of their jurisdiction!"

Bruce pursed his lips and looked at her calmly. "Well, first off Lady, you do not 'summon' my agents. I do. And second, we did have business there."

"And what business was that? There were 15 dead men there when my agents got there! That was a terrorist cell that we had been tracking for months!" She yelled.

"Well too bad your people couldn't do their job before those same terrorists killed three of my agents and took another hostage." He barked back at her and she came up short. He could see a flush start to creep up from her collar.

"Oh, I didn't know that." She murmured with a huff. "I'm sorry." She said, setting her pride to the side.

"They were good people and great agents… So I took action before I lost a fourth." Bruce said gravely, sitting back down. He waved a hand at the chair opposite from him and Une sat down, all traces of her anger gone. They sat in a companionable silence as two powerful people who knew all too well what it felt like to lose people who worked for them.

"Did you get your other agent back?" she asked, and he nodded curtly. "Good."

They fell into an awkward silence and Une stood up to leave. "Just one thing," she said turning back to him and he could see her fighting her instincts to demand something of him, "Could you...at least give me a heads up next time?" she asked and he gave her a tight smile.

"I'll try."


	5. First of Many

**Chapter 5**

 **Two months later...**

 **April 15, AC 198**

 **Frankfurt, Germany**

Zechs strolled down the small street in Frankfurt searching for the small, local bierstube where he agreed to meet Wufei and their newest partner, Kay. Germany was experiencing a late cold snap, and the sharp April air made Zechs raise the hood on his coat and try to duck as deep into its padded warmth as possible to hide from the biting wind.

The hole-in-the-wall bar was the closest in proximity to their newest target, Danyel Niesen, a drug smuggler and human trafficker. As he thought about the upcoming mission and trudged down cold cement, he felt an uneasy twist in his gut. It would be the first mission with Kay, and he wasn't sure what was going to happen. He hadn't seen her since she called him an 'asshat' in Bruce's office. Their interaction had been minimal and brief, so he had no inkling of her personality except one very obvious trait: angry.

Not that he blamed her, he reflected, he would have been mad too if he had been tortured and almost choked to death.

Zechs had had a hard enough time getting use to working with Flemming's team and then Wufei, and he didn't want to work with someone else. He let out a long breath and it rose like a white cloud around him. He was just going to have to wait and see how it turned out with her.

He spotted the bar, tucked up between a filthy alley and a convenience store, and crossed the street. He shivered involuntarily as another blast of cold wind hit him and he quickened his pace to the inset bar front with its single wooden door and round window. He sighed in relief when he pushed the door open and was enveloped by its stuffy warmth.

And stuffy it was. The place, while small, was packed. Wall-to-wall red faced patrons stood and sat, laughing and talking loudly to their friends. He immediately took his hood down and pulled at the zipper, and no one paid him any attention as the door swung shut behind him. He looked ahead to the bar, near the spot where they had decided to meet and saw no one he recognized.

He pushed his way through the crowd, to the highly polished wood bar, and ordered a beer when he finally got the bartender's attention. He was just taking his first sip of the delicious, citrusy hefeweizen when there was a hand on his back and he stiffened.

"Drinking on the job?" came a feminine voice and he turned around to meet a pair of amused hazel eyes. He took a moment to place the face in front of him before realizing that it was Kay. There were no traces of the swelling that once dominated her face and now he could see her features clearly. Her long, straight, brown hair was down, framing a sharp oval face. She had a straight nose that came to a slight point, smirking full pink lips and a thick brown brow was raised.

"Kay?" he asked.

"How'd you guess?" she asked in a dry voice, and with a jerk of her head, she turned and walked away. He followed her through the crowd, to a small table in the back where they could still see the whole room. She sat down in front of the half full beer already at the table, picked it up and took a sip.

"You were saying about drinking on the job?" he asked rhetorically as he sat down with his own beer.

She shrugged, "It was merely an observation." she smiled lightly from her glass and took a sip. She closed her eyes as she sipped and he took the moment to observe her more. There was a little pink scar on her chin and another at the top of her right cheek, just under her eye. She had long, dark eyelashes and a light smattering of freckles across her nose. There were light shadows under her eyes but she had smooth skin otherwise, and he'd placed her at 19 or 20 years old. If she was wearing any make-up, he couldn't tell, but he thought she really didn't need any... she was, in fact, quite pretty.

She was wearing a grey and coral striped sweater, black leggings, and warm-looking black calf boots. The sweater had a scoop neck and Zechs could see a long, straight, pink scar on her collarbone and found himself staring at her smooth, white neck.

"Ahem, eyes up here." He heard her say, and she ducked her head to meet his eyes.

"Hm?" he said, blinking and looking back up her face. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't- I was looking at-"

"I know what you were looking at," She said, rubbing a hand across her neck. "The rope didn't leave a scar." He nodded sheepishly.

"I noticed...I'm glad." He murmured, and took a sip from his drink. She shrugged in agreement then scratched at her head and looked away from him. The air was awkward between them and he didn't know why, but he couldn't think of anything to say. She looked back at him and set her drink down with a decisive thunk.

"Look, I didn't say this before, but thanks." she said quickly, then picked up her beer again. Zechs looked at her surprised... he definitely wasn't expecting that. "Why do you look so surprised?" She asked, frowning at him, and his words got stuck again.

"I-uh," he stuttered and decided to just go with the truth, "you just don't seem like the thanking type I guess." He admitted and she smirked.

"I'm not." She said flatly.

"Bruce made you then?" He asked with a smirk of his own, and she made an exaggerated face.

"God he's the worst," she said with a shake of the head, but she grew serious. "But, I'm not so stubborn that I can't admit that I was going to die there. So, thanks." Kay repeated. She took a drink then continued, "but I'm telling you right now, don't get use to it…"

"Understood." he replied, "Glad to have been a service," he added, raising his drink towards her. Silence fell on them again and he felt the urge to dissipate the awkwardness. "So, have you been with the company long?" he asked, avoiding Nexus' name, in case anyone should overhear. It was a little less crowded in the back of the bar, but there were still quite a few people around them.

"About six months. Bruce had me with Don's team until he could hire more people. I told him I preferred to work alone, but he didn't seem to care."

"He is the type of man who does what he wants." Zechs muttered and she smiled a bit.

"Like I said, the worst." she murmured sarcastically over her glass.

"What about the industry in general?" He continued, "Have you been doing this for long?"

He looked across the table at Kay as he asked, and met her eyes. They stared quietly at each other for a moment, and Zechs could see the warrior reflected within the woman sitting across from him. There was an amused smirk on her lips, but it was betrayed by the hard, experienced look in her eyes. The dark bar gave her hazel eyes a deceivingly warm, coppery tone.

"Not that it's a competition, but I've been at this a lot longer than you," she said vaguely, and he let out a short chuckle.

"I don't know about that, I've been doing this a long time," he responded skeptically, and her smirk deepened.

"Oh, no no, Lightning Count," she smirked at him and his hand involuntarily tightened around his glass at the unexpected use of his former handle. So she knew who he was. "See, **You** were a soldier, trained to fight for the cause and off doing soldiery things…" she had raised a hand and made a light wiggling motion with her fingers as she said this, "whereas **I** was trained very early specifically in this **...** 'industry' as you call it," she responded, setting her hand down on the table, "So, it's been my trade for most of my life." and he noticed the note of bitterness in her voice. She picked up her glass, and eyed him as she took a drink.

' _Another child soldier then, and a child assassin at that...'_ he thought to himself, as he stared back at her. ' _there are so many of us who never got the chance to be an innocent,'_ . His mind brought to him Lucrezia's face, and the memories of how young they both were when they first met… it felt like a lifetime ago, and yet it had barely been a decade.

"I see," he nodded, taking a deep gulp of his beer, while forcing the thoughts of Lucrezia and the ache in his chest to the side, "Do you enjoy it?" he asked her the same question had been asking himself over the last few months. His answer was always no, he didn't enjoy killing people, he felt no thrills from it...but it was a job that needed to be done. He often wondered about the other Nexus agents, wondered if they liked killing or felt that it was unpleasant necessity like he did. Personally, Zechs felt that anyone who _enjoyed_ it, shouldn't be working for Nexus. Kay considered him for a second, understanding his meaning.

"No, I don't. So don't worry, I'm not a psycho." she answered without breaking eye contact. He could feel the honesty in the words and nodded.

"Then why?"

"What's your why?" she countered, "Mine is that I'm dead inside," she tapped her heart, "and I'm good at it."

"Similar I guess," he responded, "Someone's gotta do it," he said and she shrugged. "It's very independent work, this job…" he continued, "It's was probably more so when you first started," he said vaguely. He met her stare again and he could see the knowing look in her eyes.

He had heard about them during the war, the Assassins. At least, that's what they were called since they didn't have an official name...Duke Dermail and the other high-ups thought it was another ploy by the colonies to destabilize the Earth, and it certainly made a good dent in the support structure of the factions that reinforced OZ's allies. Zechs had noticed the disappearances of many faction leaders, some men he knew, but he was too busy during the war to do anything about it. There had been an OZ task force assigned to track these assassins down, but it had been a fruitless endeavor. But assassins could never, and would never be found by anyone hunting them, and he found it strange how he now found himself sitting across the table from one of them. Now that Zechs thought about it, maybe some had been Nexus agents.

"I always worked alone. So it was definitely an adjustment when I changed...employers," she said, smoothly changing the subject.

"So, working with partners isn't your forte then?" he asked, accepting the new topic, and trying to add a hit of humor to his voice.

"Don't lie to me and tell it's yours," she said with a quirk of her eyebrow, and he chuckled again.

"No, it's not," he admitted, "I tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way so they just think I'm an asshole." He grinned cockily and lifted his glass and took a drink.

"Hey, me too," She said raising her glass with an ironic smile. They clinked the edges of their glasses together and drank.

"What are we drinking to?" came a voice from behind Zechs, and he turned to see Wufei, red faced from the cold, walking up to them, his own beer in hand.

"To being assholes." Zechs answered with a grin and Wufei shrugged.

"I'll drink to that." he said without missing a beat and lifted his glass to his lips.

* * *

They continued to make small talk as they finished their drinks and acted casual. They didn't need to discuss the mission, they all knew what they had to do, so they idly waited until it was time.

As they talked, Zechs could sense something from Wufei as he spoke to Kay, an aggression of sorts, mixed with curiosity. What was going on with him? He'd have to ask later.

Finally after 30 more minutes, thoroughly warmed by the atmosphere and beers, the trio departed. Zechs had gotten an alert from their NT Jeanne that heir target was spotted, and was expected to arrive that his safe house any minute.

It was a short distance from the bar, so the three huddled inside of their heavy winter coats and walked at a brisk pace.

The building looked like a shack from the outside, leaning up against the tall imposing brick wall of an old textile mill. On its other side was a Deli in a sturdy brick two story, and behind it, and Strip Club. Plastic bags and various pieces of trash swirled by as the wind picked up, and Zechs almost thought he saw the small one story building wobble a little from a particularly hard gust. Niesen owned the Deli and the Strip club, but he chose to run his main business out of the squat little shack. ' _What a strange location for a drug lords den.'_ He thought.

The team split up, disappearing down the narrow alleys that surrounded the building, peering inside windows and listening for voices. They met a few minutes later in the back alley.

"7 men in the back room." Wufei reported in a hushed voice. "Neisen, identified by a gun tattoo on his neck, is in there." Zechs nodded.

"East side of the building was empty," Kay confirmed, "and the Deli only had one patron and one man behind the counter."

"West side was also empty," Zechs said, "so those 7 are the only men in the building. If we're quiet, we can probably get out of here without alarming the 3 bouncers in the club."

Wufei and Kay nodded, looking confident, "Let's go."

They headed to the door on the east side of the building. It was locked, but with a pin from her pocket, Kay had it unlocked quickly with only a tiny click. The door swung open quietly, and Kay led the way on silent feet. Zechs followed and Wufei brought up the rear.

The room they entered was a small kitchen with two hallways, one leading to the front and voices echoed from the hallway heading to the back. Zechs heard a zipping noise from behind him, and looked over as Kay took off her coat and draped it over a chair in the corner. He raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged.

"It's a nice coat." She explained in a hushed whisper and he smiled at the ridiculous logic. He noticed that she also had taken off her gloves and rolled up the sleeves of her sweater to her elbows. The trio froze when the sound of a door opening and closing came from the front room.

"That must be Jan," a muffled voice said from the back.

They stood tensely waiting for Jan to come and discover them, but a few breaths went by and he never appeared.

'Jan' seemed to take his time in the front room and Zechs could hear a light rustling sound as he puttered around. He started to head that way, but stopped when he noticed Kay already walking with a quiet but determined stride in that direction. He watched her walk, observing how lithe she moved and that's when he noticed that she was gripping something in her right hand.

Shining with a sharp, deadly twinkle, the thin, eight inch black blade was attached to a black handle with a short hilt. There another one attached to her hip, but Zechs didn't have time to observe more before Kay disappeared into the front room.

Again, they expected noise, or some sort of struggle, but there was only silence.

A moment later she came back, wiping bright red blood from the dagger with a black, wool glove, he guessed she stole from the unfortunate Jan.

Wufei was poised by the entrance to the back hallway, listening for movement, but he, like Zechs, was watching Kay. She looked up, meeting both of their eyes and lightly jerked her chin in the direction of the back room. They moved on.

As he pulled out his silenced gun and walked with it hanging at his side, Zechs thought about how to approach the room full of, no doubt, well armed men, and he decided to go for Bold.

He signaled to Kay and Wufei, then walked right in.

The faces that turned with smiles, no doubt expecting him to be their friend, froze with surprise, and all laughter and noise ceased. All 7 men sat around an oval table that was covered with tightly packed bills, pictures of naked women, beer bottles and a pile of white pills in clear packets. The room itself was a cramped pigsty with an overflowing garbage bin and trash strewn about on the floor. A cheap painting hung crookedly on a wall with chipped, yellowing paint, and the only source of slight came from a single, naked bulb.

"Good evening gentlemen," he said with a big smile plastered to his face, and before the men could recover, he raised his gun, aimed it right at his target with the stupid neck tattoo, and pulled the trigger.

The man's head whipped back as he fell, the shocked expression never leaving his face, and before he could hit the ground, Wufei and Kay were in movement around him.

Zechs knew he was more of a brute force fighter, relying on his height and his naturally muscled limbs to provide him with the power behind his blows. He had speed, but lacked grace, unlike his two partners.

Wufei fought with the striking precision of a martial artist, taking out the two men on Zechs' right with ease. At the same time, he watched Kay fight to his left… and her movements flowed like water.

She planted a hand on the table and launched herself across the tabletop, slamming feet first into the chest of the bald man in the middle, who was starting to stand and pull a weapon. He only had time let out a startled yelp as he and Kay tipped back in his chair, and she had one of her daggers through his jugular before they hit the ground. They hit the ground with a thud, and in almost the same movement, she pulled the dagger from the man's neck, stood, and slammed it into the chest of the man to her left. Then she spun and plunged her other dagger into the third man's eye. Zechs hadn't even seen her grab the second dagger from her belt.

5 men fell in a matter seconds, and the last man standing stood terrified in the corner, having just watched all his friends be simultaneously killed. Zechs recognized him as Neisen's partner, Jack Wolden. Wufei and Kay stood on either side of him, neither out of breath, watching Zechs. He kept his eyes on the trafficker.

"P-please," the man begged in heavily accented English, "I'll pay you anything, just mercy, please,"

"Did you show any mercy to the people _you've_ killed?" Zechs asked coldly and pulled the trigger.

The trio stood in the room, surveying their work.

"That was easy." Kay grinned, wiping her blades on the shoulder of one of the dead men. Zechs smiled back then pulled out a white ceramic elephant from his coat pocket, and placed it on the nearest man's chest.

"What is that for?" Wufei asked nodding to elephant as they started to file out of the room.

"Two birds." Zechs answered with a shrug, "that's the calling card of the other large drug dealer in this city. The Preventers will be getting an anonymous tip about this 'slaughter' and hopefully they'll go raid those guys."

"Why don't we just take care of them?" Kay asked as they returned to the kitchen area. She walked up to the sink, turned on the hot water and soaped up her bloodied hands.

"Eh- those guys deal with just drugs. No trafficking and no war plots, that we know of. And they're not the ones washing money for the political group here in Germany trying to make a name for itself."

"In other words, we don't care." Wufei finished, and Zechs nodded and pointed at him.

"Exactly."

They waited until Kay had her coat back on, before slipping out of the building. The sun was already beginning to set and it was getting colder. They walked in silence for a few blocks, but when they got to their first major intersection, Kay turned to them.

"I'll say bye here." She said, surprising Zechs. He had just assumed they'd all go back to HQ together.

"Where are you off to?"

"Nowhere special, got some things to do here. I'll see you both at work tomorrow." She said with a wink then turned and started off down the sidewalk. They watched her for a few seconds before Zechs turned to Wufei.

"Well? What do you think?" He asked as they started to walk in the other direction, and Wufei frowned.

"She's cocky." He answered in a disapproving voice, and Zechs couldn't help but let out a laugh.

"We're all cocky, it's one reason we're so good at what we do."

"Yeah, but she's extra cocky."

"How do you figure?" He asked, peering down at the Chinese man. Wufei wasn't short by any stretch, he probably hovered around 5'11", but at 6'3" Zechs had grown used to peering down at most.

Wufei shrugged, "It's just… the way she is."

"The way she is?" Zechs said surprised, stopping in his tracks as he turned to look at his partner. "Do you know something I don't? I've never known you to draw judgement of someone so easily."

"You asked what I thought, and that's what I think." Wufei scowled at him.

"Uh-huh." Zechs said unconvinced as he continued to walk, "You'll tell me eventually." He added with a confident note. Wufei caught up to him in a few long strides.

"Tell you what?"

"Why you dislike her already."

"I didn't say that."

"May as well have… and you'll tell me eventually." He repeated and Wufei scoffed.

"What makes you so sure?" He asked and Zechs sent him a confident smirk.

"Weren't you listening? It's because I'm cocky." He responded and Wufei couldn't help the amused smile that touched his lips. ' _Damn him_ ' Wufei thought with a shake of his head as they walked.

Initially, when he found out who his partner was going to be, he was certain it was the wrong pairing and couldn't believe his bad luck. Working with Zechs Merquise, enemy of the Gundam Pilots for essentially the entire war? There was no way they could work together...But, despite himself, Wufei found himself starting to actually like the man.

"Well you may be cocky, but I'm stubborn." Was all he said and the two men walked the rest of the way in an amused silence.


End file.
